Now that I've adequately adopted the elite tone of a M liberal, let me begin. M is a large state with a few different distinct regions. I spent several summers in the Berkshire mountains at a little camp called Lenox. This is back when I loved to play sports. I still enjoy sports, as evident by my participation in a softball league. But by now I've accepted that I'm not the best athlete ever. I like my role as the X factor just fine: the guy that everyone doubts who can sometimes produce quite well. That's swell. Back then though I really wanted to be great. I had this idea that I was a fabulous hockey player. In fact, I was mediocre at best. Same went for basketball. It was always quite a shock to my system when I didn't get the respect I deserved on the court. I remember making the B team for this one tournament. I cried and cried because I thought I should make the A team. I cried so much so that they made me a starter on the B team. Of course they took me out after two minutes and didn't put me back in the whole game. By now, I've mostly gotten over the hurt.
This has nothing to do with M really. Just wanted to tell you a bit about my camp life. I could dedicate a whole entry to that miserable place. I had some good times for sure, but as I look back, it was mostly awful.... Now let's go on to the state itself. I've been to Boston many times because it was close to Providence (where I went to school) and before that because I had some friends and family in the area. Here's what I can say about Boston: beautiful city, mostly awful people. There are tons of colleges, so drunkards are everywhere. Plus, they had this massive infamous reconstruction project called "The Big Dig" where they rerouted a bunch of highways and bridges to make the city more friendly to pedestrians and drivers alike. Only problem is the thing took FOREVER to complete. In the process, the dig released rats everywhere. Plus Boston's a horribly racist, segregated place. And it's cold. Oh and I hate the Celtics. It does have some good record stores though.
Beyond Boston there's Springfield, MA, home of the NBA Hall-of-Fame. Also of note is Worcester, New England's third biggest city... Oh wait, now Wikipedia is telling me a recent census has it as New England's second biggest city, meaning it's now bigger than Providence... Damn. When I went to school, I was pretty proud of the fact that Providence was number two. Oh well. All I can remember about Worcester is that the local concert venue was hosting Insane Clown Posse the night I was there. Looked like they had a pretty huge turnout.
Other areas of note that I've been to include Fall River (home of ax-murderer Lizzie Borden), Amherst (home Amherst College and Umass) and the absolutely lovely island of Martha's Vineyard. MV is known as a rich person's playground. While that's certainly a fair assessment, it's also a pretty diverse place. It has a sizable Black population that goes back hundreds of years. It also has some of the best seafood on the planet. Oh the grilled swordfish caught fresh each day still makes me tingle all over. Plus, great biking, beautiful bluffs, a wonderful old time carousel complete with gold ring. It a fine fine island. I must return soon. My parents go all the time, but now that I'm on the other coast, it's not so easy to get there. One day soon I hope. Perhaps next summer even.
And there you have it. I guess this turned out to be pretty long after all. I've seen many parts of M as you can see (hmm maybe I should've said MA since that is a legitimate abbreviation). Overall, despite the harsh winters and lame Bostonites, I consider Massachusetts a Top 25 state. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Definitely not Top 10. Maybe Top 15. I'll let you know when Wagonwheel's done and I rank all the states. Until then, look at all the places I've been!
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